Santorum warns Rubio to 'be very careful' of Durbin, Schumer on immigration

Santorum, a former senator for Pennsylvania, went on to warn Rubio that he had "never" seen the Senate Democratic leadership show interest in a bill that did not involve "capitulation" by Republicans.

“I’ve never, never, in twelve years of working with those guys found them to be interested in anything that smacks of anything but capitulation on our side, and if not, [expect] demonization if they don’t get their way," Santorum said. "So be very careful.”

Rubio defended his push for a comprehensive immigration reform package during an appearance on conservative Rush Limbaugh's show last week.

“Our point has always been we understand we have to fix this problem, but just because we’re not for what you’re for doesn’t mean that we’re anti-immigrant and anti-immigration," Rubio said.

The Florida lawmaker also acknowledged there was political risk in not acting, saying he agreed Democrats could use immigration as a wedge issue.

“That’s precisely why I thought it was important that our principles be out there early,” Rubio said. “They can try to sell that, but I doubt people are going to buy it because the reality is we have put [out] something that is very common sense and reasonable. If you take our principles, 70 percent of the American people would agree, if not more, with the general principles that we have outlined. And if they want to go further than that, then I think they’ve got a problem because they can’t argue that we haven’t tried to do our part to come up with something reasonable here, which has always been our point.”